Animal Rescuers Trying To Survive With Low Finances

NOBLEVILLE — The Wild Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Team -- a three-person operation serving Hernando and Sumter counties -- is in need of rescue.

Run by Brad and Ruthie Randell along with John Roberson, the rescue team for the past year has come to the aid of scores of starving dogs, lost parakeets, hurt opossums, abandoned pet skunks, and even a drowning owl.

Ruthie Randell said the team is in need of funding help. They started an exhibit at the Hernando County fair with some of their rescued animals and received $300 in donations for their work.

However, when Roberson was involved in an automobile accident while leaving the fairgrounds the money apparently was stolen in the confusion.

''We found the money bag it was in, but it was empty,'' she said. ''That really hurt us.''

Brad lost a leg to cancer and is unable to work. He and his wife, both 26, live on their Social Security payments. Roberson, 26, works at a Brooksville feed store.

She said her husband and Roberson were old friends and when they moved to the area they saw the need for a wild animal rescue unit.

''They have them in Tampa; even though we're more rural here there's still a need for this kind of work,'' she said.

All three do it as a hobby, but it has proved expensive, driving all over the county to aid a distressed animal. The cost of feed and special equipment also has been difficult to meet on their limited incomes, she said.

A few local stores have put donation jars in their windows and on their counters to help the team, she said.

They now are caring for a odorless pet skunk, a blind owl, a squirrel and a possum. Three baby rabbits they found abandoned recently died.

''One of the rabbits died last night. It is real hard to take care of young animals and these rabbits were so young they really didn't have any hair,'' she said.

They have the cooperation of a local veterinarian who cares for the seriously injured animals at cost.

But sometime they don't have time to get a vet.

''John found a huge owl floating in the middle of a lake; he gave it CPR and it recovered,'' she said.

A few of the animals they keep -- like the blind owl and others who would be defenseless on their own in the wild. The rest, they let go when they have recovered from their injuries.

Roberson's accident -- he is recovering from broken ribs -- and the loss of the fair money have set them back in their efforts. But Ruthie Randell said they hope to have more donation jars in local stores. She said donations can also be mailed to the rescue team at P.O. Box 153, Nobleton.